KR101415553B1 - Device for culturing micro algae - Google Patents

Abstract

In the microalgae culture apparatus of the present invention, at least two incubators classified into at least two stages according to the density of microalgae are cultured in a gradually increasing density, wherein each of the incubators includes a plurality of channels in the form of a channel- Layered structure in a closed chamber, circulating the channels of the multi-layer structure, and allowing microalgae to be cultured more effectively through photobioreaction.

Description

{DEVICE FOR CULTURING MICRO ALGAE}

The present invention relates to a microalgae culture apparatus, and more particularly, to a microalgae culture apparatus in which a plurality of channels in the form of a water channel pond are formed into a multi-layered structure in a closed chamber, circulating channels in a multilayered structure, To a culture apparatus for microalgae.

As is well known, microalgae can perform functions such as treatment of wastewater, immobilization of carbon dioxide, etc. due to various abilities and produce useful substances such as fuel materials, cosmetics, feeds, food coloring materials and medicinal raw materials Has been used for a long time and useful high-value-added materials have been continuously discovered and are being widely used.

Recently, industrial CO2 emissions have been pointed out as the main cause of global warming, and researches to utilize microalgae to immobilize CO2 have been actively conducted.

There are many factors such as composition, temperature, pH, luminous intensity, and light intensity of medium, which affect the biomass weight of microalgae and the increase of useful products. Among them, light has the largest proportion of light microalgae.

In general, a device for culturing photosynthetic microalgae for the purpose of immobilization of carbon dioxide can be roughly classified into an open system (open system) and a closed system (microbiological reactor).

In the case of an outdoor mass culture device including a raceway pond, a reaction facility such as a lake or a large pond is used, and it is commercialized only in some countries.

However, this type of culture facility has the advantages of low initial investment and easy maintenance, but it is difficult to clean, separation and purification, low cell concentration, large substrate (especially nitrogen source), high water quality and quantity demand, irregular climate The installation is very limited due to problems such as conditions and expensive labor costs.

In particular, since the effective light transmission is not performed in the culture apparatus, the growth rate of the cells is slow, the growth yield of the cells is low, and a wide installation space is required to remove a large amount of carbon dioxide. Therefore, it is not applicable in countries where it is difficult to acquire land required for reaction facilities like Korea.

In order to solve the problems of such an outdoor mass culture apparatus, a high-concentration culture is carried out through a small-sized reactor to produce an amount equal to or greater than that of the outdoor mass culture apparatus, .

Accordingly, a photobioreactor for culturing various microalgae, which is called an indoor type capable of culturing small-sized and high-concentration microarrays, has been developed since the 1980s. The photobioreactor for microalgae cultivation has been compared with an outdoor mass culture apparatus Although there is a disadvantage that the initial investment cost and the maintenance cost are relatively high, it is possible to expect a high growth rate of the cells and to easily control the operating conditions.

Currently developed types include general stirrer type reactors, plate reactors, tubular reactors, column type reactors and the like. All of these reactors are most important in the design of reactors for efficient light transmission.

When the concentration of microalgae cells is low, medium or gas injection is the most important factor for cell proliferation. However, when the concentration of microalgae cells is reached, luminous intensity is the most important factor. This is because the higher the concentration, the shorter the transmission length of the light.

That is, the light applied during the microalgae culture grows larger as the microalgae grow. As a result, the microalgae on the surface of the reactor can be supplied with the light, but the microalgae inside the reactor can be microalgae The shadow effect is generated, so that the light amount required for growth can not be supplied sufficiently.

However, the photobioreactors for the microalgae cultivation for most microalgae designed to date have not been able to overcome this point, and their production efficiency has been lowered compared with other microbial bioreactors.

To overcome this and efficiently transmit light. Recently, a photobioreactor for microalgae cultivation using an internal light source has been studied.

Known photobioreactors for microalgae culture widely known include photobioreactors for culturing tubular microalgae using sunlight as an external light source and photobioreactors for culturing panel microalgae. In order to maximize the irradiation area exposed to sunlight and shorten the light transmission distance to the inside of the culture liquid, the reactor has a structure in which a narrow and long rectangular or cylindrical pipe is tightly adhered closely to circulate the culture liquid.

The photobioreactor for microalgae cultivation has a drawback in each form. Particularly, a reactor using fibers as an internal light source has a problem in that the optical efficiency is good but the cells adhere to the surface of the optical fiber.

In addition, when a light source such as a fluorescent lamp is used as an internal light source, there is a problem in that it is not efficient because the device must be operated continuously and the electricity (energy) is excessively used.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2012-0037313 (Apr. 19, 2012) Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2011-0100747 (September 15, 2011) Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2002-0057882 (May 21, 2002)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems by combining the advantages of a Raceway pond reactor and a photobioreactor to form a plurality of channels in the form of a channel pond into a multi- And to provide a microalgae culturing apparatus capable of circulating microalgae through circulation of channels of multi-layered structure through photobioreaction.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a microalgae culture apparatus for growing micro-algae at a gradually higher density through respective incubators in which microalgae are classified into at least two stages according to density ,

The incubators of each of the stages may include a chamber forming a closed storage space; A plurality of channel-shaped pond-shaped channels spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction so as to flow the microalgae culture liquid from the upper layer to the lower layer in the chamber; A pumping means for pumping the microalgae culture liquid from the lowest channel to the uppermost channel; lighting means provided on a channel of each of the layers to provide an amount of light necessary for photobiological reaction of microalgae; And a carbon dioxide supplier for supplying carbon dioxide gas required for photobiological reaction of the microalgae to the inside of the chamber.

Here, the channels of the incubator of the subsequent stage are smaller in depth than the channels of the incubator of the previous stage, the area of the channels of the latter stage is wider, and the channels of the incubator of the latter stage It is preferable that the number of layers is one.

Further, the pumping means may include a conveyor-type aberration vertically installed to connect the channels of the lowermost layer and the channels of the uppermost layer in the chamber; A driving motor for vertically driving the conveyor type aberration to make the microalgae culture liquid be pumped from the lowermost channel to the uppermost channel; And a wind power generator which is formed at one side of the chamber and drives the drive motor using electric power generated by wind power.

Further, the illuminating means may include a solar concentrator installed outside the channel to concentrate solar light; And a dimmer installed on each of the channels to irradiate sunlight transmitted through the optical fiber from the solar concentrator.

At this time, it is preferable that the channels used in the incubators are made of a transparent material at least on the bottom surface of which the light can be transmitted.

In addition, the carbon dioxide supplier is preferably installed such that carbon dioxide gas is supplied upward from the uppermost channel to the uppermost channel.

According to the microalgae culture apparatus of the present invention, each of the incubators classified into at least two stages according to the density of the microalgae is cultivated gradually at a high density, wherein each of the incubators includes a plurality of channels in the form of a channel- Layered structure in an enclosed chamber, circulating between the channels of the multi-layer structure, and enabling microscopic algae to be cultured more effectively through photobioreaction.

In addition, according to the microalgae culture apparatus of the present invention, microalgae that cultivate channel-shaped pond-shaped channels used in incubators at each stage have different depths, areas, and the number of layers depending on the changes in the light transmittance depending on the cell density of the microalgae So that the microalgae can be cultured more effectively in each stage of the incubator depending on the density of the microalgae.

1 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a microalgae culture apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is an enlarged side sectional view of the 1-stage microalgae culture apparatus of Fig. 1;
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a channel type pond-type channel used in each stage of the microalgae culture apparatus of FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the specification.

1 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a microalgae culture apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the microalgae culture apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is configured to be cultured through respective incubators 100, 200, and 300 classified into at least two stages according to the density of microalgae.

In this embodiment, the incubators 100, 200, and 300 are classified into three stages according to the density of the microalgae to be cultured, and sequentially pass through three incubators 100, 20, and 300, Is proliferated.

That is, in the incubator 100 of the first stage shown in FIG. 1 (a), the microalgae culture is carried out at a very low cell density, and in the second stage shown in FIG. 1 (b) The microcavities of the medium cell density lower than that of the incubator 100 of the first stage are proliferated and cultured in the incubator 200 of the third stage shown in FIG. 1 (c) The cultivation of microalgae having a cell density higher than that of the incubator 200 of the second stage is performed.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is of course possible to include a variety of incubators including two or more stages depending on the culture characteristics of microalgae to be cultured.

The incubators 100, 200, and 300 of each stage include chambers 110, 210 and 310, a plurality of channels 120, 220 and 320, pumping means 130, 230 and 330, lighting means 140, 240 and 340 And carbon dioxide feeders 150, 250, and 350. However, the channels 120, 220, and 320 have different depths, areas, and layers depending on the density of the microalgae to be cultured.

A description of the chamber 110, the plurality of channels 120, the pumping means 130, the illumination means 140 and the carbon dioxide supply device 150 constituting the incubator 100 of the first stage shown in FIG. A plurality of channels 220 and 320, a plurality of pumping means 230 and 330, a plurality of channels 210 and 310, a plurality of channels 220 and 320, (240, 340) and the carbon dioxide feeder (250, 350).

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side sectional view of the 1-stage microalgae culture apparatus of Fig. 1;

2, the first stage incubator 100 includes a chamber 110, a plurality of channels 120, a pumping means 130, a lighting means 140, and a carbon dioxide supplier 150 ).

The chamber 110 is configured to provide a closed containment space for the facilities of the above configurations for the cultivation of microalgae therein.

The channels 120 are formed in the shape of a rectangular water channel pond and are vertically spaced and layered in the chamber 110 so as to flow the microalgae culture liquid from the upper layer to the lower layer.

Therefore, the microalgae are contained in the culture liquid for culturing them, and the process of filling the inside of the channel-shaped pond-shaped channels 120 of each layer and staying over a predetermined period and then flowing down to the overflow layer is repeated. Of the culture medium.

As described above, the channels 120, 220, and 320 applied to the incubators 100, 200, and 300 of the respective stages are different in depth, area, and number of layers depending on the density of the microalgae to be cultured And a detailed description thereof will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

The pumping means 130 is configured to pump and recycle the microalgae culture fluid from the lowest channel 120 to the uppermost channel 120.

In this embodiment, the pumping means 130 is configured to include the conveyor type aberration 132, the drive motor 131, and the wind power generator 135.

The conveyor type aberration 132 is vertically installed so as to connect the channel 120 of the lowermost layer and the channel 120 of the uppermost layer at one side of the inside of the chamber 110 described above.

The drive motor 131 drives the conveyor type aberration 132 to vertically pump the microalgae culture liquid from the lowermost channel 120 to the uppermost channel 120.

The wind turbine generator 135 is installed at one side of the chamber 110 and drives the driving motor 131 using the self-produced power without supplying additional energy by using wind power.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the micro-algae culture fluid flowing into the lowest channel 120 through the conveyor-type aberration 132 by driving the drive motor 131 using the power produced through the wind power generator 135 is referred to as the uppermost layer Channel 120 to be recycled.

The illuminating means 140 is installed above the channels 120 of the respective layers and is configured to provide a light amount required for photobiological reaction of microalgae.

In this embodiment, the illumination means 140 is configured to include a plurality of solar concentrators 141 and dimmers 142.

The solar concentrator 141 is installed outside the chamber 110 to concentrate solar light and the dimmer 142 is installed on the upper side of each of the channels 120 to receive the optical fiber from the solar concentrator So as to irradiate the sunlight transmitted through the solar cell.

Therefore, according to the number of the channels 120, the sunlight focused by each solar concentrator 141 is transmitted to the dimmers 142 of the respective layers through the optical fiber, So that micro-algae cultured inside can be irradiated with sunlight.

In order to sufficiently irradiate sunlight to the inside of each of the channels 120 through the dimming unit 140 for the photobiological reaction of the microalgae, And is preferably made of a transparent material capable of transmitting light.

Therefore, by using the dimming unit 140, sunlight can be irradiated not only on the upper side but also on the lower side of the channels 120, so that the depth of the channels 120 can be deepened up to twice .

The carbon dioxide supplier 150 is configured to supply the carbon dioxide gas necessary for the photobiological reaction of the microalgae into the chamber 110.

In this embodiment, the carbon dioxide supplier 150 is configured to pass through the lower side of one side wall of the chamber and supply carbon dioxide gas upwardly from the uppermost channel 120 to the uppermost channel 120.

Therefore, the carbon dioxide gas supplied into the chamber 100 through the carbon dioxide supplier 150 is dissolved in the microalgae culture solution, and is used for the proliferation of microalgae through the photochromic reaction.

The reason why the carbon dioxide gas is supplied through the carbon dioxide supplier 150 as an uptake mode opposed to the downward flow of the microalgae culture liquid is that the relatively low density microalgae So that more carbon dioxide can be supplied.

Of course, for the channels 120 in the upper layer where the carbon dioxide gas is not supplied through the carbon dioxide supplier 150, it is possible to sufficiently supply the necessary amount of the carbon dioxide gas through the additional hypothesis of the carbon dioxide supplier or the supply pipe desirable.

Accordingly, the microalgae culture apparatus 1 of the present embodiment allows the growth of the microalgae to be performed at a high density through each of the incubators 100, 200, and 300 classified into at least two stages according to the density of microalgae, At this time, each incubator 100, 200, 300 includes a plurality of channels 120, 220, 320 in the form of a channel pond in a multi-layered structure in sealed chambers 110, 210, 310, 120, 220, and 320, and supplies sunlight and carbon dioxide necessary for the photochromic reaction of the microalgae, so that microalgae can be cultured more effectively.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a channel type pond-type channel used in each stage of the microalgae culture apparatus of FIG.

3, the channels 120, 220, and 320, which are used in the incubators 100, 200, and 300 of the respective stages, (H), area (a) and number of layers depending on the change.

As shown in FIG. 3 (a), the microscopic alga cultured in the first stage incubator 100 has a relatively low cell density, so that light is transmitted relatively well.

Therefore, it is preferable that the channel 120 used in the incubator 100 in the first stage is made to deepen the depth h1 relatively and reduce the area a1 and the number of layers so that the microalgae can be cultured more effectively at an early stage.

The channel used in the first stage incubator in this embodiment is exemplified as having a three-layer structure with a depth h1 of 1 m and an area a1 of 100 m ² .

As shown in FIG. 3 (b), micro-algae cultured in the second-stage incubator 200 grow to some extent and have a higher cell density than the first-stage incubator 100, .

Therefore, the channel 220 used in the incubator 200 in the second stage is relatively reduced in depth than the channels 120 used in the incubator 100 in the first stage, and the micro-algae It is preferable to relatively increase the area and the layer so as to accommodate all of the culture liquid.

The depth h2 of the channels 220 used in the second stage incubator 200 is reduced to 30 cm and the area a2 is increased to 125 m ² and increased to an eight-layer structure.

As shown in FIG. 3 (c), the microscopic algae cultured in the third stage incubator 300 has a relatively higher cell density than that of the second stage incubator 200, so that the degree of light transmission is further weakened .

Therefore, the channel 320 used in the incubator 300 in the third stage is relatively reduced in depth from the channels 220 used in the incubator 200 in the second stage, It is necessary to relatively increase the area and the layer so as to accommodate all the microalgae cultures that have been passed over.

In this embodiment, the channel 320 used in the third stage incubator 300 has a 15-layer structure with a depth h3 reduced to 10 cm and an area a3 of 200 m ² .

As described above, the micro-algae apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is characterized in that the micro-algae apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is provided with the micro-algae cells 120, 220, and 320, The micro-algae can be cultured more effectively according to the density of the micro-algae in the incubators 100, 2200, and 300 of the respective stages by forming the micro-algae with different depth, area, and number of layers according to the change of the light transmission amount.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but many variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. And it goes without saying that they belong to the scope of the present invention.

1: Microalgae culture apparatus 100, 200, 300: incubator
110, 210, 310: chambers 120, 220, 320:
130, 230, 330: Pumping means 131, 231, 331:
132, 232, 332: conveyor type aberration 135, 235, 335: wind turbine generator
140, 240, 340: dimming means 141, 241, 341:
142, 242, 342: dimmer 150, 250, 350: carbon dioxide supplier

Claims (7)

A microalgae culture apparatus for growing micro-algae at a high density through respective incubators in which microalgae are classified into at least two stages according to their density,

The incubators of the above-
A chamber defining an enclosed storage space;
A plurality of channel-shaped pond-shaped channels spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction so as to flow the microalgae culture liquid from the upper layer to the lower layer in the chamber;
Wherein the microalgae culture medium is pumped from the lowest channel to the uppermost channel among the channels provided so as to form a layer;
Illuminating means provided above the channels of each of the layers to provide an amount of light necessary for photobiological reaction of microalgae; And
And a carbon dioxide supplier for supplying carbon dioxide gas required for photobiological reaction of the microalgae to the inside of the chamber,

Wherein the incubator channels of the downstream stage are smaller in depth and larger in area than the culture channels of the previous stage in the two or more stages.
delete The method of claim 1,
Wherein the channel of the incubator of the later stage is composed of more layers than the channels of the incubator of the previous stage.
The method of claim 1,
The above-
A conveyor type aberration vertically installed to connect the channel of the lowest layer and the channel of the uppermost layer in the chamber;
A driving motor for vertically driving the conveyor type aberration to make the microalgae culture liquid be pumped from the lowermost channel to the uppermost channel; And
And a wind power generator which is formed at one side of the chamber and drives the driving motor by using power generated by wind power.
The method of claim 1,
Wherein the illumination means comprises:
A solar concentrator installed outside the chamber to concentrate solar light; And
And a dimmer installed at an upper side of each of the channels to irradiate solar light transmitted through the optical fiber from the solar concentrator.
The method of claim 5,
Wherein the channels used in the incubators are made of a transparent material, at least the bottom surface of which is permeable to light.
The method of claim 1,
The carbon dioxide feeder includes:
Wherein the channel is provided so as to be upwardly supplied from the uppermost channel to the uppermost channel of the channel, wherein the carbon dioxide gas is layered.

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